The African Beat

I'm going to share something a little different today and focus on one of my favorite jazz artists of all-time in drummer Art Blakey. There is probably at least a few novels worth of information you could say about Blakey, his music, the musicians he performed with, and his increadible influence he had on jazz music in general. However today I thought I would focus on one of the record's I recently picked-up, titled "The African Beat". This album, which originally was released in 1962 features Blakey going in a bit of a different direction and abandoning his usual backing group, The Jazz Messagers for one album, and playing with a slightly different cast of musicians that included Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass, Yusef Lateef on horns and piano, Curtis Fuller on tympani, percussionists Solomon G. Ilori and Montego Joe along with a host of others which where given the name The Afro-Drum Ensemble. As the title of the album suggests, this record's overall sound blends together jazz with African-style percussion. Some of the record's many highlight's include "Tobi Ilu", "Ife l'Ayo", and "Obirin African" and my personal favorite "Ayiko, Ayiko". If your looking for a good crossover African jazz record, Blakey's "The African Beat" could be a great starting point as the record has a heavy leaning towards the more African percussion side. Overall the album is just another classic release from one of jazz music's finest. Enjoy!

Art Blakey & The Afro-Drum Ensemble - Ayiko, Ayiko